Tailor-made wine holidays in Carmelo, Uruguay

Carmelo is a quaint city on the Uruguay River, a mere 45-minute ride from Montevideo. Easily accessible from the main touristic areas in Uruguay -and a 2-hour ferry away from neighboring Argentina- this small and picturesque city is one of the most iconic of the Colonia department.

Often referred to as Uruguay’s Little Tuscany its bucolic landscapes, wineries, vineyards and a very relaxed pace, Carmelo is the perfect place to unwind for the day and one of the best places in Uruguay to do wine tastings and enjoy the local wine tourism offers.

Although the best time to visit the Uruguayan vineyards is in summer and autumn (especially in March), when the grapes are ripe and the harvest takes place (some wineries offer special harvest activities during these weeks so you can join their teams collecting grape bundles), wineries are open year-round with plenty of experiences on offer.

The richness of the Carmelo area in terms of wines is extraordinary, partly due to its favored geographical location - facing the sea - and partly thanks to the winemakers who love the vineyard and know it in depth (many of the original bodegueros were immigrants from Mediterranean Europe, who came with a traditional winemaking background -some of their descendants have continued on their way).

If you would like to go for wine tastings, this is the perfect place to discover the Tannat variety, typical of Uruguay, and even get a chance to visit Uruguay’s oldest winery, which thanks to its colonial structure has been declared a "Historical Monument".

Contact our local experts to discover everything the region has to offer on an unforgettable Carmelo wine tour.